Index

Page numbers in italics refer to maps.

abolition movement: major parties’ opposition to, 17, 18; moves into Old Northwest, 2–3; Old Northwest’s importance to, 12–13; religion and, 20–22; women as pioneers in, 9, 24–28. See also antislavery and anti-prejudice activists; immediate abolitionism; political abolitionism

African Americans: after abolition of slavery, 223–33; anti–African American incidents during Civil War, 218–19; antislavery newspapers published by, 99–100; in Dayton, Ohio, race riot, 148; emigrate to Canada, 48, 204, 212, 219; equal rights for, 4, 11, 17, 37, 47, 49, 56, 66, 67, 69, 70, 105, 168, 199; hostility toward in Old Northwest, 5, 7, 13, 14, 36; immigration opposed, 40, 41, 42–45, 48, 72, 216, 218, 224–25; inalienable rights for, 5; in interracial activism, 69, 169–72, 235; lecturers, 178, 179, 182–87; legal definitions of, 41–42; Liberty Party supported by, 65, 67; militancy grows among, 15, 201; military role for men, 194, 219, 220–22; Peoria anti-abolitionists on, 120, 268n112; population growth in Old Northwest, 44, 216–17; refuse to be driven out of Old Northwest, 50; rights in 1850s, 10; school inequities for, 58–59; self-defense tradition of, 205, 221; successes of, 50; towns of, 187; trouble exercising their rights under Fifteenth Amendment, 7, 11, 200–201, 229; women, 116, 141, 183, 200, 207–8. See also “Black Laws”; free African Americans; slavery

Allan, Irene B., 83, 90, 141

Allan (Allen), William T., 60, 80, 83, 84, 89, 90, 120, 123, 145–46, 248n104

Alton (Illinois): Allan attempts to speak in, 145–46; context of anti-abolitionist activity in, 129–30, 131; economic decline of, 119; Illinois State Anti-Slavery Society founded in, 26, 105; Lovejoy murder, 26, 85, 102, 103, 107–8, 110, 113, 129–30, 139; population of, 263n20; prominent citizens attempt to suppress antislavery views, 109, 122; vigilante justice in, 104

American and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society, 16, 28, 112

American Anti-Slavery Society: on freedom of the press, 101; Garrison as leader of, 16; Holley lectures for, 180; Hudson as agent for, 45, 147; lecturers sent by, 178, 187; Old Northwest affiliates of, 25, 29–30, 32; “One Hundred Conventions” tour of, 152; Robinson lectures for, 139–40; split in, 15

Anderson (Indiana), 5, 150, 161, 162–64, 278n165

Angola (Indiana), 5, 193–98

Ann Arbor (Michigan), 5, 188–91

antislavery and anti-prejudice activists: agenda and identity of, 7; Black Convention Movement on white, 69; views on Civil War, 215–17; commitment to social and political change, 6–7, 11, 33; in East and Old Northwest contrasted, 23, 28; enter mainstream politics, 126, 182; equated with sectional conflict, 122, 123; human rights vision of, 11, 37, 49, 199; increasingly divided community views on, 191–92; independent African American, 69–70; institution-building by, 23–24; interracial activism, 69, 169–72, 235; motivations of, 13, 20, 21, 28, 56, 78; national reform context of, 14, 74; networks in Old Northwest, 6, 75; new ideas of rights of, 4–5, 8–9; Old Northwest becomes stronghold of, 7; Old Northwest environment shapes, 5–6, 32, 235; organizing methods of, 20; periodicals, 9, 97, 98–99; race as conceived by, 4, 8; racism of white, 65–66; religion and, 20–22, 193; split in, 15–16; strategies of, 8, 24; unity sought by, 13, 27, 28; women, 9, 24–28, 121. See also lecturers; resistance to antislavery activism

Beecher, Edward, 106, 226

Bishop, Lyman, 107, 108, 110

Black Convention Movement: becomes National Equal Rights League, 222–23; “Black Laws” fought by, 8, 10, 37, 50, 67–74, 200, 202, 206–7, 209–10, 217, 222; during Civil War, 222; Liberty Party endorsed by, 65; racial prejudice fought by, 3, 8; women and, 207–8

“Black Laws,” 34–75; after abolition of slavery, 223–31; in activists’ agenda, 7, 49–50, 126; African American activism focuses on, 121; ambivalence toward enforcing, 46–47; attempts to convict lecturers under, 195; Black Convention Movement fights, 8, 10, 50, 67–74, 200, 202, 206–7, 209–10, 217, 222; bond laws under, 43, 45, 46, 52–53, 58, 74; civil rights arguments in opposition to, 55–59; during Civil War, 10, 201, 216, 219, 222; consequences of, 4, 38, 42–45, 47, 72; defined, 240n10; Democratic Party support for, 64–65, 73, 74, 195; and fugitive slaves, 48; Hull speaks out against, 126; and immigration restriction, 42–45; interracial marriage banned, 61–63; lecturers and, 137, 186; legal challenges to, 59–61; opposition in 1850s and after, 200–233; petitions against, 63–64, 72, 73, 74, 122, 206, 212; political abolitionists oppose, 64–67; racism underlies support for, 4, 214; religion in opposition to, 51–52; state constitutions and, 38–39, 40–41; testimony provisions, 47–48; U.S. Constitution seen as conflicting with, 57–59; used against Truth, 194, 195, 196, 199; on voting rights, 45–46

Blanchard, Jonathan, 80, 125

Blanchard, Mary Avery Blanchard, 80

Bloomington (Illinois), 5, 72, 76–78, 111, 146

Bradburn, George, 152, 154, 155, 156, 157, 158, 162, 165–66, 172

Brooke, Abraham, 28–29, 30, 187

Buffum, Arnold, 97, 112, 149

Burleigh, Charles C., 129, 147, 148, 149, 187

Cambridge (Ohio), 5, 126–29, 130, 131, 263n20

Cary, Mary Ann Shadd, 99–100, 184, 208, 221, 232

Chandler, Elizabeth Margaret, 24–25

Chicago, 5, 71, 119, 203, 205, 206–7

Cincinnati, 5, 138–39, 224, 240n15, 263n20

citizenship: activists call for African American, 37, 206, 210, 215; as gendered, 215; lecturers appeal to their rights of, 139, 140; new concept of national, 224; postwar experience leads egalitarians to want full, 235; state constitutions on race and, 41; universal justice as basis for, 70; U.S. Constitution and African American, 58

civil liberties. See rights

Cleveland (Ohio), 67–68, 73, 207, 221, 224

Codding, Ichabod, 125, 132, 141, 146, 177

colonization movement, 15, 42, 43, 68, 104–5, 123, 207, 220, 249n4

Columbus (Indiana), 5, 155, 209

Columbus (Ohio), 5, 209–10

Cook, John, 155, 156, 157

Cowles, Betsy Mix, 55–56, 172

Cuyahoga County Anti-Slavery Society, 55

Davis, Mary Brown: columns in Western Citizen, 81, 84, 89–90, 91, 92, 95, 114–15, 116, 130; and Illinois Female Anti-Slavery Society, 92, 94; on race equality, 66, 81, 116; southern origins of, 81, 123; writings of, 113–17, 130

Davis, Samuel H., 81, 82, 113, 266n68; abolitionists defended by, 85, 109, 113; on anti-abolitionists, 123; attack on, 125, 130; denies being abolitionist, 121–22, 130; on freedom of the press, 112–13, 115, 117–19, 122, 125; neutral agenda of, 111–13; as open abolitionist, 122, 125

Dayton (Ohio), 5, 147–48, 154

Democratic Party: and African American rights after abolition, 225, 226, 227, 228, 229, 230; agenda of, 17, 111; anti-abolition office holders in, 123; antislavery emerges in northern, 126; on “Black Laws,” 64–65, 73, 74, 195, 211–12, 219; divides on sectional lines, 19–20; hostility toward discussions of race, 17, 18, 19, 132; opposition to Civil War in, 193–94, 195, 219; Peoria Democratic Press newspaper, 82, 112; Truth opposed by, 185; and white supremacy, 219; willingness to use violence against activists, 18, 19, 182–83

Democratic Press (newspaper), 82, 83, 112, 118, 119

Depp, C. S., 178, 182–83

Douglas, H. Ford, 214–15, 221

Douglass, Frederick, 22, 151, 172, 202, 210; in Black Convention Movement, 73, 206; as editor, 99; friendship with Monroe, 170–71; Garrisonian nonviolence of, 157–58; immediate abolitionism of, 214; lack of authenticity attributed to, 185; on “One Hundred Conventions” tour, 152, 155–57, 165–68, 170, 172, 173; as target of anti-abolitionist mobs, 159

Eastman, Zebina, 30, 91, 114–15, 116, 132, 203

Economy Female Anti-Slavery Society, 27, 247n95

extralegal violence. See mob violence

Fifteenth Amendment, 7, 11, 45, 200–201, 225, 230, 229

First Amendment, 93, 101, 119, 138, 139, 196

Foster, Abby Kelley, 179, 180, 187

Fourteenth Amendment, 225, 227–28, 229, 231, 236

free African Americans, 120–21; as beleaguered minority, 6; “Black Laws” flouted by, 50; concern about their ability to support themselves, 42; kidnapping into slavery, 45, 48, 52–53, 204, 213; population statistics, 1800–1870, 237–38; on slavery and their own condition, 15; U.S. Constitution and citizenship for, 58

“Free Discussion Suppressed in Peoria” (Davis), 117–19, 121

freedom of assembly, 76–96; for building an antislavery public sphere, 9, 79–80; challenges to abolitionists’, 80, 82; as essential to antislavery activities, 96; mob violence for preventing, 85–87; opposition to reformers’ in Illinois, 82–84; for women, 87–95

freedom of speech, 106, 134–199; efforts to suppress, 144; as essential component of activists’ fight, 198; expanding definition of, 138–39; gender associated with defense of, 140–41, 197–98; as indispensible for lecturers, 9–10, 134–76; petition campaign and, 93–94; for women, 180, 195–96

freedom of the press, 9, 97–133; activists defend with fundamental American principles, 124; attacked in Ohio, 125–29; attacked in Peoria, Illinois, 109–24; attacks on Lovejoy’s in Alton, Illinois, 103–8, 129–30; Samuel H. Davis’s defense of, 112–13, 115, 117–19, 122, 125; debates about, 99; for female journalists, 116; Lovejoy’s defense of, 103, 106; state governments in suppression of, 102; violence and economic pressure in suppression of, 98

freedom papers, 37, 43, 46, 48, 53, 54, 61, 72, 203

free produce movement, 22–23, 30

Free Soil Party, 16; agenda of, 19; major parties’ fear of, 17; in Ohio “Black Laws” repeal, 73; and racial justice, 202; Republican Party compared with, 20

fugitive slave legislation: “Black Laws” associated with, 74, 203, 204; clause in Northwest Ordinance, 1; of 1850, 10, 19, 48, 53, 74, 203–6, 212, 214, 221; free African American communities flout, 50; legal challenges to, 59–61; of 1793, 48, 51, 53–54; slavery’s impact experienced through, 37

fugitive slaves: aid to, 10, 37, 50–55, 172, 205, 212; battle for protection for, 213; “Black Laws” as reaction to, 48; during Civil War, 218; in Ohio, 45; Stanton assists, 34. See also fugitive slave legislation

Fussell, Edwin, 150, 152–53, 155–56, 159–62, 164–65, 168, 169, 172–73

Fussell, Rebecca Lewis, 150, 155, 158, 160–62, 164, 165, 192

“gag rule,” 93, 102, 113, 118, 139

Galesburg (Illinois), 5, 72, 80, 125, 203, 226, 247n82

Galesburg Anti-Slavery Society, 56, 64

Garretson, Jesse, 142, 143

Garretson, Mrs. Jesse, 142–43

Garrison, William Lloyd, 16, 32, 180, 187

Garrisonians. See immediate abolitionism

Gay, Sidney Howard, 151, 152, 153, 158, 161, 168, 169, 170, 172–73, 174

gender: citizenship as gendered, 215; defending freedom of speech associated with, 140–41, 197–98; norms, 10, 90, 92; and race, 208; stereotypes, 88, 91

Glazier, Richard, 10, 181–82, 189, 190

Griffing, Josephine S.: faces mob threats in Michigan towns, 192; and Abby Kelley Foster, 179; on immediatist lecture circuit, 187; in Indiana, 177, 193–98; at Michigan State Anti-Slavery Society convention of January 1861, 188, 189, 190

Harper, Frances Ellen Watkins, 184, 185, 186–87, 208

Henry County Female Society, 56

Holley, Sallie, 179–80, 183

Hudson, Erasmus D., 12, 13, 45, 145, 148–49, 150, 171

Hull, Matthew R., 126–29, 130

human rights: after abolition of slavery, 223; activists’ vision for, 11, 37, 49, 199; freedom of the press seen as, 102; universal, 11, 23, 215; as unpalatable in Old Northwest, 101

Illinois: African American communities in, 50; African American population in, 44, 216, 226; African American suffrage in, 45, 230; anti–African American incidents during Civil War, 218, 223; anti-immigration statute, 41, 42, 72, 209, 219, 224–25; antislavery religious groups in, 20–21; “Black Laws” in, 36, 37, 42, 43, 54, 57, 58, 60–61, 63, 71–73, 94, 206, 207, 210, 211, 222, 226, 251n42; Black State Convention of 1853, 206–8; constitution of, 39, 45, 56, 58, 67, 72, 73, 219; Democratic Party in, 18, 109, 131. 219; female antislavery societies in, 80, 88–89; Fifteenth Amendment ratified in, 7, 225; forced-labor arrangements in, 38; fugitives in, 48, 51, 53–54, 54–55, 60–61, 203–4, 205; Galesburg Anti-Slavery Society, 56, 64; indentured servitude in, 39, 40; interracial marriage banned in, 61, 63, 120, 231, 289n136; lecturers in, 137, 145–46, 178, 182–83; Liberty Party in, 29, 30–31, 65, 66, 67, 82, 88, 109, 125, 214; McLean County Anti-Slavery Society, 76, 77; place and political climate in, 108–9; population statistics, 1800–1870, 237; Putnam County Female Anti-Slavery Society, 27, 56, 64, 89, 94; racial prejudice in, 4, 57, 223; river towns in southern trade, 87, 123–24; segregated schools in, 59; settlement of, 14; slavery in, 14, 39–40; southern ideas about African Americans in, 53, 54; testimony provision in, 47; Union Army transports slaves to, 218; Whig Party in, 81, 82, 90–91; Will County Anti-Slavery Society, 51, 52, 56, 57, 58, 61, 63; women defend abolitionist meetings in, 140–41; women in antislavery movement in, 26–28, 95. See also cities and towns by name

Illinois Female Anti-Slavery Society, 81, 90, 92, 94, 95

Illinois State Anti-Slavery Society, 22, 26, 28, 30–31, 92, 103, 105, 120, 124, 145

immediate abolitionism: American Anti-Slavery Society in, 16; Anti-Slavery Bugle newspaper, 32, 47, 127, 144, 147,179; in antislavery movement split, 15, 28; Brooke, 28; continues activities in 1840s, 24, 31; continues activities in 1850s, 187, 215; difficulties in organizing, 76; established parties contrasted with, 111; Hudson, 45; Illinois State Anti-Slavery Society and, 26, 105; lecturers, 30, 187–88; Liberty Party and, 17, 66, 95; of Michigan Anti-Slavery Society, 31–32; and nonviolence/nonresistance, 16, 30, 105, 108, 157–58; “One Hundred Conventions” tour and, 152; origins of, 15; and political abolitionism, 28–31, 171–72; and religious controversies, 21, 22; voting considered by, 30; women among, 26

indentured servitude, 38, 39, 40, 43

Indiana: African American population in, 44, 50, 187, 216; African American suffrage in, 45, 230; anti–African American incidents during Civil War, 218; anti-kidnapping statute in, 52, 53; antislavery religious groups in, 20–21; Berkshire case, 210–11; Black Convention Movement in, 206, 226; “Black Laws” in, 36, 42, 43, 56–57, 58, 65, 73, 94, 194, 196, 209, 211–12, 219, 226; Buffum’s The Protectionist, 29, 97, 112, 148, 149; constitution of, 39, 43, 45, 47, 195–96, 206, 226; defining race legally in, 41; Democratic Party in, 18, 131, 219; Economy Female Anti-Slavery Society, 27, 247n95; female antislavery societies in, 29, 247n95; Fifteenth Amendment ratified in, 7, 225; forced-labor arrangements in, 38; Free Labor Advocate and Anti-Slavery Chronicle newspaper, 29, 34, 35–36, 57, 62, 134, 162, 167–68; free labor convention of 1842, 23; Griffing in, 177, 193–98; Henry County Female Society, 56; indentured servitude in, 39, 43; interracial marriage banned in, 61, 62–63, 231; lecturers in, 137, 147, 148–51, 178–79, 184–85; Liberty Party in, 29, 95; “One Hundred Conventions” tour in, 153, 154–70, 172–73; population statistics, 1800–1870, 237; Quakers split in, 21–22; river towns in southern trade, 87, 124; segregated schools in, 59, 231–32; settlement of, 14; shared backgrounds of antislavery women, 80; slavery in, 14, 39; testimony provision in, 47, 211, 224, 226; Truth in, 179, 184–85, 193–98; white supremacy in, 4. See also cities and towns by name

Indiana Anti-Slavery Society, 26, 27, 29, 112, 126, 149

Indianapolis, 5, 47–48, 168–69, 204

interracial marriage, 61–63, 120, 214, 218, 231, 249n7, 256n155

Jones, John, 71, 204, 221, 222, 224–25, 230

justice: activists develop new conceptions of, 4; racial, 37, 66, 197, 202, 217; universal, 70; vigilante, 85, 104

Langston, Charles, 65, 202, 209

Langston, John Mercer, 202, 210, 212, 221

law: activists shift understanding of how to use, 235–36; racialized, 4, 32, 34–36, 41, 51, 73, 88, 94, 200–201, 203, 209, 215, 217, 218, 222, 224, 228. See also “Black Laws”

lecturers, 25, 30, 134–99; African American, 178, 179, 182–87; antislavery press linked to, 132–33; attempts to convict under “Black Laws,” 195; freedom of speech essential to, 9–10, 134–76; housing for, 171–72; immediatist, 30, 187–88; local reform culture created by, 198–99; obtaining venues, 141–48; “One Hundred Conventions” tour of 1843, 150, 151–74; patterns of activism after 1850, 178; publicity for, 147; resistance to, 135, 137–38, 140–70, 178, 180–98; women as, 177, 178–80, 183–87; women protect male, 10, 140–41, 143, 158, 175, 181–82

Liberty Party, 16; “Black Laws” opposed by, 55, 64, 65, 66–67; Samuel H. Davis and, 112, 113; Democrat and Whig concern about, 17, 111; dissolution of, 19; “gag rule” opposed by, 93–94; on gender and antislavery activism, 140; Hull as supporter of, 126; in Illinois, 29, 30–31, 65, 66, 67, 82, 88, 90, 93–94, 109, 125, 214; and immediatism, 17, 24, 66, 171–72; Indiana Anti-Slavery Society meets with, 27; in Michigan, 29, 31, 55; in Ohio, 30, 64, 65; Republican Party contrasted with, 132, 214; Signal of Liberty newspaper, 171; support in Old Northwest, 29; Western Citizen newspaper, 78, 100, 114; women in, 26, 88, 95, 178

Lincoln, Abraham, 131–32, 187, 193, 214

Logan Female Anti-Slavery Society, 24–25, 248n110

Lovejoy, Elijah Parish, 102–8; attacks on, 103–4, 106–8; conversion to abolitionism, 102–3; murder of, 26, 85, 102, 107–8, 110, 113, 129–30, 139; seen as martyr, 108–9, 265n52

Lovejoy, Owen, 85, 146

marriages: activism affects, 81–82; interracial, 61–63, 120, 214, 218, 231, 249n7, 256n155

Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, 132–33, 152, 174, 214

McLean County Anti-Slavery Society, 76, 77

Michigan: African American population in, 44, 50, 216; African American suffrage in, 45–46, 208–9, 226–27, 230; anti–African American incidents during Civil War, 218; anti-kidnapping statute in, 52–53, 213; antislavery religious groups in, 20–21; Black Convention Movement in, 69–70, 71, 217; “Black Laws” in, 36, 40, 42, 43, 45, 46, 52, 55, 65, 68; constitution of, 40, 45–46, 70, 227, 230; defining race legally in, 41–42; Democratic Party in, 18, 131; female antislavery societies in, 25, 31, 248n110; Fifteenth Amendment ratified in, 7, 225, 230; forced-labor arrangements in, 38; interracial marriage banned in, 61–62, 231; lecturers in, 137, 178, 180–82, 184; Liberty Party in, 29, 31, 55, 95; Logan Female Anti-Slavery Society, 24–25, 248n110; mobbing escalates in, 192; personal liberty law in, 206; petitions against “Black Laws” in, 64; population statistics, 1800–1870, 237; segregated schools in, 59, 231, 232; segregation affirmed by Supreme Court, 212; settlement of, 14; slavery in, 40; testimony provision in, 47; ties to South in, 87; white supremacy in, 4. See also cities and towns by name

Michigan Anti-Slavery Society, 31–32

Michigan State Anti-Slavery Society, 22, 25, 28, 31, 55, 144, 181, 188–89

mob violence, 85–87; against Allan in Alton, Illinois, 145–46; antislavery resistance to, 102; against Depp in Monmouth, Illinois, 182–83; as community control, 85, 160, 161; differing contexts of, 129–31; against Glazier and Powell in Pontiac, Michigan, 181–82; against Hull in Ohio, 126–29; against Lovejoy, 26, 85, 103–5, 106–8, 110, 113, 129–30, 139; against Michigan State Anti-Slavery Society convention of January 1861, 188–91; against Morris in Dayton, Ohio, 148, 154; against “One Hundred Conventions” tour, 153–70; against Peoria, Illinois, abolitionists, 82–84, 86, 89, 109–10, 111, 117–18, 121, 125; permissive attitude toward, 47, 110; against Remond and Gay in Noblesville, Indiana, 151; against Robinson in Ohio, 142–44; Spencer whipping in Bloomington, Illinois, 111; against Truth in Angola, Indiana, 194–95, 196, 197; against Weld in Ohio, 139; against women, 141, 143; women in defense against, 10, 90, 140–41

Monroe, James, 152, 153, 154, 168, 169, 170–71, 172–73, 206

Morris, Thomas, 27, 93, 148, 154

Mott, Lucretia, 21–22, 135, 148

Northwest Ordinance, 1, 2, 14, 38, 39, 40, 49, 54

Ohio: African American population in, 44, 50, 187, 216–17; African American suffrage in, 34–36, 45, 209, 212–13, 226; anti–African American incidents during Civil War, 218; anti-kidnapping statutes in, 53, 213; antislavery religious groups in, 20–21; attacks on antislavery press in, 125–29; Black Convention Movement in, 67, 73, 207, 208, 222; “Black Laws” in, 35, 36, 39, 42–43, 54–56, 58–60, 64–65, 67–68, 70, 201, 202, 209–13, 217–18, 229–30, 249n7; Clarion of Freedom newspaper, 126, 127, 128, 129; constitution of, 209, 229–30; defining race legally in, 41; female antislavery societies in, 26; Fifteenth Amendment ratified in, 7, 225, 229; forced-labor arrangements in, 38; and Fourteenth Amendment, 227–28, 229; free labor convention of 1842, 23; fugitives in, 45, 48, 51, 54, 205; Granville antislavery convention of 1838, 22; immediatists in, 24; interracial marriage banned in, 62, 231, 249n7; judicial challenges to “Black Laws” in, 59–60; lecturers in, 137, 139–40, 142–44, 146, 147–48, 178, 184, 186, 187; Liberty Party in, 30, 64, 65; “One Hundred Conventions” tour in, 153–54, 170, 173–74; partial repeal of “Black Laws,” 73–74; “peace Democrats” in, 219; personal liberty law in, 205–6; petitions against “Black Laws” in, 63–64; petition to remove African Americans from, 217–18; population statistics, 1800–1870, 237–38; race-based provisions in constitution, 35, 38–39, 45; Rankin attack in, 77, 259n5; river towns in southern trade, 87; segregated schools in, 58–59, 231, 232; settlement of, 14; testimony provision in, 47; Western Anti-Slavery Society, 28–29, 30; Whig Party in, 18, 29, 126; white supremacy in, 4. See also cities and towns by name

Ohio American Anti-Slavery Society, 29–30, 45, 57, 97, 152, 179

Ohio Anti-Slavery Society, 25–26, 27, 28, 29, 55, 80, 93, 108

Ohio Anti-Slavery Young Men and Women Convention, 144

Ohio State Anti-Slavery Society, 211

Old Northwest: abolition movement moves into, 2–3, 7; adverse reform climate of, 8, 23, 52, 78, 175; African American population growth in, 44, 216–17; “Black Laws,” 34–75, 200–233; as central battleground over race and rights, 3, 110, 150; creation of Northwest Territory, 1; debates over slavery and African American rights in, 32–33; environment shapes activists in, 5–6, 32, 235; fluid borders between different types of activism in, 28–31; hostility toward African Americans in, 5, 7, 13, 14, 36; importance to activists, 12–13; increasing sectionalism heightens tensions in, 178; lecturers in, 9–10, 134–99; literature on, 239n4; mob violence in, 85–87, 131; networks of activists in, 6, 75; “peace Democrats” in, 220; polarization increases after 1860, 193; population of, 44, 78, 237–38; prosperity brought by Civil War, 232; racism as pervasive in, 3–4, 11, 13, 32, 183, 201, 216, 223; Republican Party begins to predominate in, 18, 131; rights, race, and politics connected in, 196, 213–14; settlement of, 14; slaveholders demand right to bring their slaves into, 49; slavery in, 1, 14, 38–40, 41, 237–38; southern economic ties of, 87, 98, 99, 122, 123–24; southern origins of many settlers, 48–49; state constitutions in, 38–39, 40–41; suffrage for African Americans in, 45–46; tendencies toward unity in, 16–17, 26; towns and cities of, 5. See also Illinois; Indiana; Michigan; Ohio

“One Hundred Conventions” tour (1843), 150, 151–74

Pendleton (Indiana), 150, 155–70

Peoria (Illinois): abolitionists’ letter to Western Citizen newspaper, 84, 117, 119; African Americans in, 120; Allan in, 80, 83, 84, 89, 90, 120; anti-abolitionist activity persists through 1846, 124–25; context of anti-abolitionist activity in, 119, 122, 129, 130, 131; county-level “Black Laws,” 46; Davises in, 81–82, 111–22; Illinois Female Anti-Slavery Society convention of 1844, 90, 92; Illinois State Anti-Slavery Society meeting of 1844, 124; meetings of anti-abolitionists in, 82–83, 119–20, 268n107; mob action against abolitionists in, 82–84, 86, 89, 109–10, 111, 117–18, 121, 125; population of, 263n20; Porters in, 80–81; southern economic ties of, 123, 124; Spencer relocates to, 78; “tacit consensus” about slavery in, 122

Peoria Anti-Slavery Society, 82–84

Peoria Female Anti-Slavery Society, 81, 89–90, 246n82

personal liberty laws, 10, 52, 53, 205–6, 212, 284n24

petitions: antislavery women’s, 92–94; against “Black Laws,” 63–64, 72, 73, 74, 122, 206, 212; anti-abolitionists deny unqualified right of, 113; to remove African Americans from Ohio, 217–18; for Runnels, 163–64

Pettingill, Moses, 117, 124–25, 269n121

Pillsbury, Parker, 181, 187, 188, 189, 190–91, 192

political abolitionism, 16–17, 215; anti-abolitionism increases due to growth of, 18, 109, 182, 183; in antislavery movement split, 15, 28; becomes less welcoming of women, 178; “Black Laws” opposed by, 64–67; collaboration with Garrisonian lecturers, 171–72; fluid border with immediatism, 28–31; in free speech battle, 10; Illinois State Anti-Slavery Society and, 26; immediatists continue despite growth of, 24, 31, 187; Ohio Anti-Slavery Society and, 25, 29; in Ohio “Black Laws” repeal, 73; parties organized by, 16, 19. See also Liberty Party

Porter, Eliza Chappell, 80–81

Powell, Aaron M., 10, 181–82, 187

Price, D. B. F., 223

public sphere: in antebellum America, 79; building an antislavery, 9, 79–80; debates over which ideas can enter, 98; women’s public action, 91–92, 95, 138

Putnam County Female Anti-Slavery Society, 27, 56, 64, 89, 94

Quakers (Society of Friends), 24, 34, 112, 163, 179, 187; and antislavery lecturers, 147, 172; among antislavery women, 80; arming against anti-abolitionists, 161; “Black Laws” opposed by, 52, 56, 58, 63, 209; known for opposition to slavery, 20; Richmond, Indiana, meeting of 1842, 21, 166; splits over slavery in, 21–22

race: activists’ view of, 4, 8; antebellum understanding of, 3–4; as construction, 3, 4, 46, 250n30; as defined in this study, 3; defining legally, 41–42; disparate views in Old Northwest, 14; gender and, 208; major parties’ hostility toward discussions of, 17, 18, 19; racialized laws, 4, 32, 34–36, 37, 41, 51, 73, 88, 94, 200–201, 203, 209, 215, 217, 218, 222, 224, 228; racialized rights, 37, 218, 219–20, 228; racial justice, 37, 66, 197, 202, 217; racial uplift, 186, 282n35; during Reconstruction, 223–33; and rights and politics as connected in Old Northwest, 196, 213–14; Southern definitions of, 250n30

racial discrimination: after abolition of slavery, 37, 225, 228; de jure and de facto, 37, 236; Harper on roots of, 186; Illinois constitution strengthens, 67; intensification during 1850s, 215; legalized, 74; Michigan Supreme Court affirms, 212; as rife in Old Northwest, 33. See also segregation

racial prejudice: activists oppose local, 2, 6, 8, 11, 12, 23, 24, 56; Black Convention Movement opposes, 3, 8; “Black Laws” support, 37, 57; died hard in Old Northwest, 236; overcoming with African American lecturers, 173–74; petitions’ arguments against, 94; separate Black Conventions seen as leading to, 70; of white antislavery reformers, 65–66

racism: in attacks on Douglass, 159; in “Black Laws,” 4, 214; institutionalized, 132; in mid-Atlantic region, 229; opposing as controversial, 86; as pervasive in Old Northwest, 3–4, 13, 183, 201, 216, 223; post-Reconstruction, 236; in reform movements, 202; seen as intractable, 215; southern ties contribute to, 22; of white antislavery reformers, 65–66. See also white supremacy

Rankin, John, 77, 259n5

Reconstruction, 223–33, 235. See also Fifteenth Amendment; Fourteenth Amendment; Thirteenth Amendment

religion, 147, 162, 180; agency system pioneered by, 136; in antislavery, 20–22, 193; churches as venues for antislavery lecturers, 145–46; evangelical abolitionism, 15, 16, 21; in fugitive slave law opposition, 51–52; Second Great Awakening, 15, 20, 136; in shared backgrounds of antislavery women, 80

Remond, Charles Lenox, 151, 168–69, 170, 172, 173

Republican Party, 16; and African American rights after abolition, 225–26, 227, 228, 230; antislavery agenda of, 126, 182; begins to predominate in Old Northwest, 18, 131; context of emergence of, 7; immediatist criticism of, 187–88; Kansas-Nebraska Act and emergence of, 19, 20; Lincoln, 131–32, 187, 214; Michigan Anti-Slavery Society denounces, 32; moderation on African American rights, 213–14, 220; personal liberty laws supported by, 206; Radicals, 214, 220, 225, 227; and Truth, 184–85; as unrepresentative of Old Northwest opinion, 201

resistance to antislavery activism: activists’ stance shaped by, 23, 32, 75; anti-abolitionists meetings in Peoria, 82–83, 119–20, 268n107; attempts to silence meetings, 12, 76–78, 80, 82–84; during Civil War, 193; freedom of the press suppressed by, 98, 102, 124; to lecturers, 135, 137–38, 140–51, 153–70, 178, 180–98; legal actions against anti-abolitionists, 162–65; national tensions increase, 7; political parties exploit, 18; prominent citizens in, 109, 119, 122–23; and right of petition, 113; social cohesion as factor in, 74–75, 122, 123, 124, 131; sources of, 13; southern ties contribute to, 22. See also violence

Richmond (Indiana), 5, 21, 148–50, 166

rights: activists develop new ideas of, 4–5, 8–9; and “Black Laws” 36–37, 55–59; disjuncture between actual practice and, 232–33; equal, 4, 11, 17, 37, 47, 49, 56, 66, 67, 69, 70, 105, 168, 199, 206, 217; freedom of the press seen as, 101–2; Illinois State Anti-Slavery Society on, 105; inalienable, 5, 84; increases in limitations during Civil War, 218–19; natural, 70, 190, 196, 208, 210; political parties restrict change in, 225–26; pressure to contain shifts in, 200–201; and race and politics as connected in Old Northwest, 196, 213–14; racialized, 37, 109, 218, 219–20, 228; Radical Republicans support African American, 220; during Reconstruction, 223–33; Reconstruction amendments’ race-neutral extension of, 7; states not federal government enforce, 36; state versus federal, 4; universal, 23, 70, 101, 106, 107, 183, 190, 196, 215; for women, 198. See also human rights

Robinson, Marius R., 135, 139–40, 142–45, 184, 187, 204–5

Runnels, Morris, 162–64

schools: inequities in, 58–59, 74, 226; lecturers raise funds for African American, 137; legislatures oppose equal treatment in, 217; segregated, 58–59, 209, 228, 231–32; struggle for African American access to education, 209

segregation: after abolition of slavery, 228; as endemic in Old Northwest, 37; in Michigan, 40, 43, 212; in schools, 58–59, 209, 228, 231–32; separate Black Conventions seen as, 70

slavery: de facto, 38; Democratic Party’s views on, 17, 111; end of, 223; fiction of compliant slave, 224; Free Soil Party’s views on, 19; growing support for, 15; inalienable rights attributed to slaves, 5; indentured servitude compared with, 39; influence in Old Northwest, 32; intensification of violence over, 215; kidnapping free African Americans into, 45, 48, 52–53, 204, 213; Lincoln’s views on, 131–32; national influence of, 132, 144; Northwest Ordinance article and, 1, 2, 14, 38, 39, 40, 54; in Old Northwest, 1, 14, 38–40, 41, 237–38; opposition to extension of, 19, 20, 73; Republican Party’s views on, 20; slaveholders demand right to bring their slaves into Old Northwest, 49; suppressing criticism of, 98; “tacit consensus” about, 122; Union Army transports slaves to Old Northwest, 218; Whig Party’s views on, 17, 111

Society of Friends. See Quakers (Society of Friends)

Spencer, Levi, 72, 76–78, 146

Springfield (Illinois), 5, 146, 224–25

Stanton, Benjamin, 21, 34, 35–36, 41, 46, 67, 167–68, 248n1

Stebbins, Catherine A. F., 188–89, 190, 191–92

Stebbins, Giles B., 146, 187, 188–89, 190, 191, 192

suffrage: for African American men before 1860, 36; Black Convention Movement focuses on, 68; “Black Laws” and, 45–46; expansion of, 40; Liberty Party and, 66–67; in Michigan, 55, 208–9; in Ohio, 34–36, 212–13, 217, 218; opposition to African American after Civil War, 225–230; seen as natural right, 70; support during 1860s, 219–20; women’s, 15, 92

testimony provisions, 47–48, 211, 224, 226

Thirteenth Amendment, 223, 224

Truth, Sojourner, 184–86; “Ar’n’t I a Woman?,” 185; “Black Laws” used against, 194, 195, 196, 199; on immediatist lecture circuit, 187; in Indiana, 179, 184–85, 193–98

Tucker, John, 47–48

Union County Anti-Slavery Society, 149

United States Colored Troops, 221

vigilantism. See mob violence

violence: abolitionists question their attitudes toward, 108; anti–African American incidents during Civil War, 218–19; major parties accept, 18, 19. See also mob violence

Wattles, John O., 134–35, 163

Way, Henry H., 34, 35–36

Weld, Theodore D., 137, 138, 139

Western Anti-Slavery Society, 28–29, 30, 32, 178, 179, 186, 187, 214

Western Citizen (newspaper), 114; Allan on “Black Laws” in Illinois, 60; Mary Brown Davis writes for, 81, 84, 89–92, 95, 114–16, 130; John Jones in, 72, 204; as Liberty Party paper, 78, 100, 114; “Maria” on activists’ convictions, 78; on mob attack in Peoria of 1846, 125; on newspapers as propaganda devices, 99; Peoria abolitionists’ letter to, 84, 117, 119; on women defending abolitionist meetings, 141; on women in antislavery societies, 27

Whig Party: agenda of, 17, 111; anti-abolitionists in, 123; antislavery emerges in northern, 126; on “Black Laws,” 57, 64–65; Clay, 21, 166; collapse of, 19; Samuel H. Davis as supporter of, 82, 112, 121; Giddings, 64, 93; hostility toward discussions of race, 17, 18, 19; Hull on, 126, 128; in Illinois, 81, 82, 90–91; immediatist lecturers aided by, 171–72; in Ohio, 18, 29, 126; on Pendleton attacks, 159–60; personal liberty laws supported by, 53; willingness to use violence against activists, 18, 19